Author: Philip RALLI

Mixtures and Compunds

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As a religious publisher, I am aware of the curse that attaches to making the slightest change to Holy Writ.

All publishers know authors who object to the slightest editorial change to their great opus.

Movies exist, audiobook exists, games and quizzes exist; for news their is journalism. Adding videoclips or databases to a book makes a new synthetic or hybrid product, but the video is still video, pics are still pics, and text is text. Chemists make a distinction between a mixture and a compound: I am not convinced that books-plus can go from mixtures to something new.

Gutenberg was also a bookseller

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It seems clear that consumers may want different formats: a library may desire a sewn hardback that will last centuries; a traveller may want a read-once papeback that fits in a handbag; an older reader may desire larger print. A student may want not whole books but the must-read chapters for his course. All these point to production on demand for books, either by ordering online or by finding bookshops that have printing machines as well. So there will be fewer, larger physical bookstores, and workers in said stores will need to work with publishing software.

This comes with a risk that copyright owners fail to get paid so shop managers and production people will need to be conscious of security as well.

Gutenberg would recognise a world where books are personalised, expensive and made to order, but he would be surprised that there is also the cheap alternative of buying the e-version.

Amazon has recently linked a cut price offer for an ebook to a previous physical purchase – the deal could work the other way also: taste the e-book, then buy physical. But having a history of customer purchasing is a huge advantage in making the link. How copyright owners can verify against abuse is not so clear!

 

authors must have authority!

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From a young age we are used to being ‘told’ to read this or that; mums, older siblings, teachers, counsellors, mentors, bosses and even competitors come up with forceful suggestions which have the advantage of making their job easier as well as providing topics for conversation.

Authorial authority is a self reinforcing things: how do people know you are an expert: because you have written a peer-reviewed book.  But how come it was reviewed at all, because you are an expert!

Authority is hardly a new concept: but internet collaboration does not seem to enhance it: Wikipedia may be a popular site, but how far can we trust entries? What is the educational level at which entries are written.

authors must have authority!

Standard

From a young age we are used to being ‘told’ to read this or that; mums, older siblings, teachers, counsellors, mentors, bosses and even competitors come up with forceful suggestions which have the advantage of making their job easier as well as providing topics for conversation.

Authorial authority is a self reinforcing things: how do people know you are an expert: because you have written a peer-reviewed book.  But how come it was reviewed at all, because you are an expert!

Authority is hardly a new concept: but internet collaboration does not seem to enhance it: Wikipedia may be a popular site, but how far can we trust entries? What is the educational level at which entries are written.